The increase in retail rates come as companies prepare for surging prices in the wholesale electricity markets where they buy their power. Forecasts of higher than normal temperatures and record power demand are coinciding with the shutdown of at least three coal-fired plants, leading to concerns that temporary shortages on the hottest summer days could send wholesale prices, which typically average less than $50 per megawatt hour, spiking to $3,000 per megawatt hour or higher. (A megawatt hour is 1,000 kilowatt hours.)
Houston is becoming much greener, and all signs indicate that the city will continue to be a leader in the renewable energy sector. Green energy in Houston is widely available for consumers. Choose Energy has partnered with Amigo Energy and Green Mountain Energy, two trusted green energy suppliers in Houston. The city's energy efficiency rank typically falls within the top ten, and no other municipality buys more renewable energy. Recently, Causes.com rated the city the 10th greenest in the nation.
Finding the best electricity company in Houston for your home doesn't have to be difficult. Here at Direct Energy, we are committed to helping you Use Less of What We Sell™ with our personalized energy insights tool Direct Your Energy. Take control of your electricity cost and your Houston power bill with easy energy usage tracking and energy efficiency insights.

Payless Power provides the best prepaid and standard energy plans with no cancelation fees and no deposit in the area. Since 2005, Payless Power has been helping people get better energy rates and save money on their average power bill, regardless of income or credit history. As a family-owned energy provider and not one of the giant electricity suppliers, we take great pride in serving our customers with care and respect.

Texas deregulated most of the state's electricity markets in 2002, a move aimed at lowering electricity costs by letting consumers choose their own electric power providers and their own plans. Some parts of Texas continued to be regulated, including those that get power from municipal utilities, electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities that operate outside the state's primary power grid.

Keeping on top: With deregulation, a whole host of electric resellers jumped into the market because there’s a whole lot of electricity to sell: if Texas were a country, it’d be the 11th largest electricity consumer in the world! Just by itself, it uses as much electricity as Spain or Great Britain! That means there’s a whole lot of information you have to find, absorb, and process to make sure you’re getting the best rate for your needs.

Business specialists say that retail electricity companies follow a model used in other mature industries, such as banking, cell phone services and cable television, where the market is saturated and the main way to grow is by poaching customers from competitors. In all these industries, companies use cut-rate promotional offers to win customers and then hope inertia sets in once promotions expire and prices increase.
With more than a decade in business as a quality electricity provider based in Houston, Spark Energy works to consistently deliver reliable, low-cost electricity, community support and a better customer experience to hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers across sixteen states. Why do we do it? Because we are committed to being the best electricity supplier in the country. In Houston, that means:
In addition to having a healthy dose of Texas pride, we also pride ourselves on providing friendly customer service. Amigo Energy customer service comes in a variety of convenient ways—from our mobile app and desktop portal, to our US-based call center with over 500 customer service agents. No matter which type of Amigo Energy customer support you choose, you’re sure to get the service you need in the timeframe you want it.

The local electric company is the utility – that’s the company who owns the infrastructure, including the poles and power lines that deliver electricity to your home. They are who you call if your power goes out or there's an emergency. But in almost every city in Texas, you must choose another company to supply that energy, called a Retail Electric Provider (REP). These REPs, like Spark Energy, allow you to choose electricity plans that offer competitive prices and plans to meet your needs.

Take a few minutes to sit down and do some digging. Not only do you want to find out exactly which Houston power companies operate in your neighborhood and what it is they have to offer, but you want to find out which are the cheap power companies in Houston. You’ve just bought a home! You need to save as much as possible everywhere you can until you can get at least some of the move-in expenses paid down. Now, while it’s true that most Retail Electric Providers require a deposit if your credit is poor or you haven’t had a utility in your name, not all of them do. Even with those that do, some will accept a letter of guarantee, where someone else guarantees in writing that they’ll pay the bill if you don’t, in place of a cash deposit. This can be even more useful once you consider that the typical deposit is 1/5th to 1/6th of an annual bill – if it’s a brand-new home, it might be that the only record of use is that of the construction company and that would be a seriously large deposit, indeed!
Customers can find deals in competitive electricity markets if they take the time and effort to look at web sites such as powertochoose.org, the official comparison shopping site of the Public Utility Commission. The study cited a PUC survey of retail electricity offerings in Houston that showed nine deals in March that were lower than the regulated price of electricity in San Antonio.
Thanks to energy deregulation in Houston, customers are now able to look around for lower rates, as suppliers are competing with one another. Residents can shop and compare rates and plans because there are more options for energy providers in Houston, helping consumers save money every month by signing up for more reasonably priced energy plans. Find out what energy prices in Houston look like today.
There are a variety of different types of gas and electricity plan that are currently out there for prospective customers to consider. Some plans offer fixed rate deals , these allow you to be sheltered from price rises over an agreed period of time. Other plans allow you to manage your entire account online, making it easier and more efficient for you to handle your energy supply.
Houston is known for its hot summers and mild winters. You can save money on your yearly electricity bills by locking in your rate with Bounce Energy before the warmer months begin. With our variety of plans as well as our Build Your Own Plan tool, you can even customize how long you want to lock in your electricity rate, be it as little as 2 months or as long as 3 years! Lock in your rate today and enjoy savings throughout the year, no matter how hot it gets outside.
One way NRG has expanded its customer base — it has about 30 percent of the retail electricity market in Texas compared to about 20 percent a decade ago —is by putting employees into retail settings such as grocery stores and discount stores to meet with consumers about the company’s electricity plan offerings. The face-to-face interactions have helped the company explain the range of current offerings, said Killinger. NRG also emphasizes the importance of buying power from a company with enough financial heft that it will be around in the future.
Switching your energy provider online through our website is quick, easy and hassle-free. Don’t miss out on saving money through our price comparison service simply because you think it will be a long, drawn-out process. The whole thing need not take over ten minutes and by doing so you could be saving hundreds of pounds a year with a cheaper electricity supplier.
Consumers in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Corpus Christi were promised bargains on electricity when the Texas Legislature deregulated the electricity market. But 16 years later they're still paying more for electricity than their counterparts in cities Texas lawmakers exempted from deregulation such as Austin and San Antonio, according to the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power which analyzed federal electricity pricing data.
At ElectricityPlans, we’re here to do one thing – help you find the best electricity plan to fit your needs. We are big advocates of electricity competition and your power to choose your own electricity provider. We offer completely unbiased electricity plans and display accurate, transparent pricing to take the guesswork out of choosing your electricity plan.
Even though customers in deregulated cities routinely pay more for electricity, there is a bright spot. The gap between the average price paid for electricity between deregulated cities like Houston and regulated cities like San Antonio have dwindled to the narrowest point ever to 8.8 percent. Back in 2006, customers in deregulated cities were paying nearly 47 percent more for electricity than their counterparts in regulated cities.
That means that customers in Houston paid an average of $5,500 more for electricity over a 14-year time span beginning in 2002, according to the group that buys electricity on behalf of municipal governments in Texas. The calculation, which uses data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, assumes monthly electricity use of 1,300 kilowatt hours.
3. Customer service: When the only utility available has lousy customer service, nobody is surprised. They don’t even pretend to care – they know they have you over a barrel. With all these new players in town, however, it’s a slap in the face to be treated like royalty until you’ve signed on the dotted line and now they won’t even return your calls or the person on the phone can’t string three English words together or if he does speak English, he’s brand new and panicking trying to pull up your account information.
Prepaid electricity plans are yet another option available to Texas customers. Prepaid plans let you avoid credit checks and deposits by pre-paying for your electricity. Prepaid electricity plans typically do not have a fixed duration and operate on a pay-as-you-go basis. Shopping for prepaid electricity can often yield relatively cheap electricity with no deposit. See Prepaid Electricity: Is It Right For Me? for more.
That means that customers in Houston paid an average of $5,500 more for electricity over a 14-year time span beginning in 2002, according to the group that buys electricity on behalf of municipal governments in Texas. The calculation, which uses data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, assumes monthly electricity use of 1,300 kilowatt hours.
The local electric company is the utility – that’s the company who owns the infrastructure, including the poles and power lines that deliver electricity to your home. They are who you call if your power goes out or there's an emergency. But in almost every city in Texas, you must choose another company to supply that energy, called a Retail Electric Provider (REP). These REPs, like Spark Energy, allow you to choose electricity plans that offer competitive prices and plans to meet your needs.
How does that work? Spark Energy buys electricity and competes in the market for the best price -- a competition that ultimately drives prices down and allows us to deliver more value for your money. In Texas, switching to a different electricity provider is kind of like changing to a different long distance company. When you switch to Spark Energy, the utility will continue to deliver electricity to your home but Spark Energy will handle all the billing, including the utility’s delivery fees and the electricity you actually use.
After spending so much time and energy with energy companies, I figure I should pass this info onto the internet world (within Houston). I am a Centerpoint Energy resident (you don't get to choose the electricity provider you have; it's based on where the electricity is provided). I think Houston is predominantly a Centerpoint energy area (correct me if I'm wrong).
Texas consumers can save hundreds of dollars each year by shopping for electricity, but most don’t seek out better deals, overwhelmed by the number and complexity of power plans on the state’s Power to Choose website, wary of fine print in too-good-to-be true offers, or just too busy to spend time calculating whether free nights and weekends offset the higher rates they pay during the week.
It’s worth noting that you can switch for free with no exit fee 42-49 days before the end of your contract. Under Ofgem’s standards of conduct, energy firms have to give you between 42 and 49 days’ notice of your tariff ending. You can use this time to decide whether to stick with them, or switch. If you decide to switch, you won’t be charged an exit fee.

Energy Choice Experts: This company provides an apples-to-apples cost comparison of all 12 month plans based upon a client's usage history and guarantees they will find the Lowest Annual Cost plan for each client based upon their usage pattern. New clients pay a flat $35. Returning clients pay $30. You sign up the for electricity service yourself. They only provide the analysis (the hard part). More info